It is known to use battens when fastening a single sheet of roofing material, such as, for example, a roofing membrane or a blanket of roofing insulation, or plural sheets of roofing materials, such as, for example, overlapped edges of two roofing membranes covering a blanket of roofing insulation, to an underlayment, such as, for example, a wooden roof or a corrugated metal roof, by means of a series of screws or other fasteners. A batten is a thin, narrow strip of a relatively stiff material, which for a roofing application should be split-resistant and weather-resistant. When fastened along one edge of a roofing membrane, a batten helps to form a seal beneath the edge and to prevent the edge from lifting, as when the edge is exposed to a strong wind.
Although wooden battens or metal battens have been used historically, polymeric battens have become available, which may replace such wooden or metal battens for many roofing applications. Typically, metal battens are provided with pre-punched or pre-drilled holes at regular intervals, such as, for example, 6-inch or 12-inch intervals, so as to accommodate fasteners, such as, for example, screws, and the battens are also formed so as to have predetermined lengths, such as, for example, 10-foot lengths. Wooden battens may be analogously provided with pre-drilled holes at regular intervals. It is known to provide an elongate batten, either metal or polymeric, in the form of a coil having a large nominal diameter, such as, for example, an 18-inch nominal diameter. Battens tend to be too stiff to be readily coiled into coils that are much smaller. Typically, battens are fastened by screws, although it also is known to use nails or staples to fasten battens.
Conventionally, whether he or she is laying such battens in short lengths or in coils, a worker frequently stoops over so as to manually position such battens, before and during fastening the battens and one or more sheets of roofing materials to an underlayment. Obviously, it is cumbersome, tiresome work for a worker to position such battens manually.
A machine for laying a thin, relatively limp tape, such as, for example, rayon cord tape, and for stapling the tape onto a sheet of roofing material is disclosed in De Nicola et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,771,708. The machine, as disclosed therein, is not useful with battens, however, since battens, even if coilable, are relatively stiff compared to such tapes.
Hence, there has been a need, to which this invention is addressed, for a machine useful to position a batten, particularly but not exclusively a batten provided in the form of a coil, before and during the time in which the machine is used to fasten the batten and one or more sheets of roofing materials to an underlayment.
Herein, such terms as "roof" and "roofing" are to be broadly understood, so as to encompass roofs, decks, ceilings, and similar structures.